The visions of Kylaa (Heligoland, 1820)
In the year 1820, a woman named Kylaa described visions of two men visiting her: Napoleon Bonaparte, who was at that time in exile on the island of St. Helena, and a young wanderer named Henri Fabergé. Kylaa was born in eastern Canada sometime around the turn of the 18th century. Born in eastern Canada, she was the only child of an Oneidan mother and a French officer father. As a young adult she eloped to England with a British naval officer, but in 1805 she was reported missing. In 1807 she emerged as a popular socialite in Ondense, Denmark. In 1811 she opened a seaside “restorative spa”, attracting the rich and cultural elite of Europe to its famous mud bath treatments. Rumours circulated of a love triangle involving Kylaa and two of her more high profile guests: Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, and Danish author Hans Christian Anderson. In 1820, Kylaa was found near the Heligoland cliffs, her naked body covered in boils. She appeared delusional as she ranted manically to concerned onlookers for over 14 entire days and nights. She insisted that Napoleon Bonaparte was hiding somewhere on the island, preparing an attack on the Heligolanders. She also spoke of a young man named Henri Fabergé, a wandering ascetic who was reaching out to her for help. Kylaa disappeared and was never seen or heard from again. Heligoland Heligoland (German: Helgoland; Heligolandic: deät Lun Land") is a small German archipelago in the North Sea. Formerly Danish and British possessions, the islands (population 1,127) are located in the Heligoland Bight (part of the German Bight) in the southeastern corner of the North Sea. They are the only German islands not in the immediate vicinity of the mainland and are approximately three hours' sailing time from Cuxhaven at the mouth of the River Elbe. In addition to German, the local population, who are ethnic Frisians, speak the Heligolandic dialect of the North Frisian language called Halunder. Heligoland was formerly called Heyligeland, or "holy land", possibly due to the island's long association with the god Forseti. Napoleon Bonaparte around that time In 1818, The Times reported a false rumour of Napoleon's escape from his exile on the island of St. Helene, and said the news had been greeted by spontaneous illuminations in London. There was sympathy for him in the British Parliament: Lord Holland gave a speech which demanded the prisoner be treated with no unnecessary harshness. Napoleon kept himself informed of the events through The Times and hoped for release in the event that Holland became prime minister. He also enjoyed the support of Lord Cochrane, who was involved in Chile's and Brazil's struggle for independence and wanted to rescue Napoleon and help him set up a new empire in South America, a scheme frustrated by Napoleon's death in 1821. There were other plots to rescue Napoleon from captivity including one from Texas, where exiled soldiers from the Grande Armée wanted a resurrection of the Napoleonic Empire in America. There was even a plan to rescue him with a primitive submarine. For Lord Byron, Napoleon was the epitome of the Romantic hero, the persecuted, lonely and flawed genius. The news that Napoleon had taken up gardening at Longwood also appealed to more domestic British sensibilities. Heligoland Follies controversy From November 2011 until March 2012, the man purporting himself to be Henri Fabergé staged a theatrical series entitled Henri Fabergé's Heligoland Follies, in which Kayla Lorette performed as a false and fictional representation of Kylaa. In this blatantly fabricated production, Henri Fabergé is allegedly taken in by a utopian cult led by a woman named Kylaa, a spiritualist who has visions about the future of humanity. The story takes wild liberties with the known facts of Kylaa's life, and should be considered a fiction inspired by the factual fiction.